Loss
The act of letting go and the quality of loss go naturally with autumn, the time when trees are letting go of their leaves and many plants begin to go dormant in their preparation for winter. My friends have been experiencing a lot of loss this year and I have written the following as a tribute.
LOSS
Although loss occurs each and every moment, it often goes unnoticed, its effect easily woven into the tapestry that is our life. Like tiny earthquakes, these losses imperceptibly shift the ground beneath us, quietly changing the landscape.
And then there are the big shifts, the quakes that we feel as the earth we stand upon breaks apart, forming chasms into which fall our most cherished relationships. These are the losses that rock us and push us off balance, plunging us deep into darkness. These shake-ups are ever-so-painful as the ties that have connected us to those beings and things we have loved so much break.
We may attempt to reclaim these bonds, however, all that remains in the spaces once occupied by our loved ones is emptiness. We are forced to learn how to live without them. When we stay present to the tidal waves of loss and of grief, the emptiness reveals its fullness and the space becomes beloved, once again. 
We find that our loved ones are still here, gentle as wisps of breath quietly entering the fresh openings of our hearts. Our grieving makes room for them. Every tear expands the openings in which everything and everyone we have ever loved or ever will love can rest.
Coming of Age Group for Women 60+
Coming of Age, a pilot group for women 60 and over. Explore the spiritual and psychological effects on our souls to be an older woman in today’s culture. In August, I will reach the age of 65. T…
Coming of Age Group for Women 60+
Coming of Age, a pilot group for women 60 and over.
Explore the spiritual and psychological effects on our souls to be an older woman in today’s culture.
In August, I will reach the age of 65. This surprises me as I don’t feel 65 which really means that I don’t fit the stereotypes my mind has picked up about what a woman of 65 years should feel like.
Many of my friends, clients and acquaintances whose ages fall somewhere upward of 60 have shared their own stories about how they do not feel their age. In fact, many have also expressed how they are feeling a vitality that they would like to cultivate and support in the face of cultural beliefs that those of us who are aging no longer have as much to offer.
As with all transitions, aging requires a continuous integration of the changes we are experiencing in our bodies, within our families, our communities and within our lives in general. In order to recognize our value and maintain connection with the dynamism of our souls, we must address the challenges we are facing in our lives.
Grief and loss, physical challenges, devaluing cultural beliefs, changes in self-image, feeling without purpose and approaching death are some of the difficult issues that we face as aging women. Addressing these issues in a supportive environment can help us to re-engage with our deepest nature, discover our purpose, uncover our vitality and express the beauty and the wisdom of our unfolding souls.
The Coming of Age group will provide a kind and loving environment in which to identify and dismantle the false and debilitating beliefs we carry about aging and allow for a spiritual unfoldment into the deeper truths of our lives.
I have found that groups like this one are best developed through word-of-mouth referrals from and to the people we know and love. Would you please pass this email onto the women in your life who might benefit from participating in the group. Thank you!
With love and appreciation,
Barbara
For more detailed information about the Coming of Age Group visit: https://embodyingspirit.org/groups/coming-of-age-group-a-pilot-group-for-women-60-and-over/
For information about Barbara and her work visit:
https://embodyingspirit.org
A Blessing for Beauty, John O’Donahue
A Blessing for Beauty May the beauty of your life become more visible to you, that you may glimpse your wild divinity. May the wonders of the earth call you forth from all your small, secret prison…
A Blessing for Beauty, John O’Donahue
A Blessing for Beauty
May the beauty of your life become more visible to you, that you may glimpse your wild divinity.
May the wonders of the earth call you forth from all your small, secret prisons and set your feet free in the pastures of possibilities.
May the light of dawn anoint your eyes that you may behold what a miracle a day is.
May the liturgy of twilight shelter all your fears and darkness within the circle of ease.
May the angel of memory surprise you in bleak times with new gifts from the harvest of your vanished days.
May you allow no dark hand to quench the candle of hope in your heart.
May you discover a new generosity towards yourself, and encourage yourself to engage your life as a great adventure.
May the outside voices of fear and despair find no echo in you.
May you always trust the urgency and wisdom of your own spirit.
May the shelter and nourishment of all the good you have done, the love you have shown, the suffering you have carried, awaken around you to bless your life a thousand times.
And when love finds the path to your door may you open like the earth to the dawn, and trust your every hidden color towards its nourishment of light.
May you find enough stillness and silence to savor the kiss of God on your soul and delight in the eternity that shaped you, that holds you and calls you.
And may you know that despite confusion, anxiety and emptiness, your name is written in Heaven.
And may you come to see your life as a quiet sacrament of service, which awakens around you a rhythm where doubt gives way to the grace of wonder, where what is awkward and strained can find elegance, and where crippled hope can find wings, and torment enter at last unto the grace of serenity.
May Divine Beauty bless you.
John O’Donohue, from Beauty – The Invisible Embrace
SoulCollage® June Workshop
What is SoulCollage®?
SoulCollage® is a heartfelt and hands-on approach to exploring the underlying truth of who you are in any given moment. It’s an intuitive process reflecting various aspects of one’s soul.
• It allows anyone, artistic or not, to convey, through images, a snapshot of one or more aspects of one’s life experience.
• It is fun and enlightening with deepening exercises that accompany collage creation.
• It is more than pasting images on a board. It is a process of self-discovery within a community of support and connection.
2016 SoulCollage® June Workshop Logistics
Date: TBA
Time: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Location: Berkeley
Cost: $89 per person per workshop. This includes all materials.
Facilitator: Barbara Reiner, Licensed SoulCollage® Facilitator
Website: http://www.embodyingspirit.org
To Apply: Call or email Barbara Reiner at 510-506-3902
barbara@spiritualawarenesscounseling.com
Bring a friend to the June SoulCollage® Workshop and receive a 1/2 off Discount!
SoulCollage® Spring Workshop in 2016
What is SoulCollage®? SoulCollage® is a heartfelt and hands-on approach to exploring the underlying truth of who you are in any given moment. It’s an intuitive process reflecting various aspects o…
SoulCollage® Spring Workshop in 2016
What is SoulCollage®?
SoulCollage® is a heartfelt and hands-on approach to exploring the underlying truth of who you are in any given moment. It’s an intuitive process reflecting various aspects of one’s soul.
• It allows anyone, artistic or not, to convey, through images, a snapshot of one or more aspects of one’s life experience.
• It is fun and enlightening with deepening exercises that accompany collage creation.
• It is more than pasting images on a board. It is a process of self-discovery within a community of support and connection.
2016 SoulCollage® Spring Workshop Logistics
May 7th, Saturday, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
The focus of this SoulCollage® Workshop will be on Stillness
Location: Berkeley
Cost: $89 per person per workshop. This includes all materials.
Facilitator: Barbara Reiner, Licensed SoulCollage® Facilitator
Website: http://www.embodyingspirit.org
To Apply: Call or email Barbara Reiner at 510-506-3902
barbara@spiritualawarenesscounseling.com
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Embodying Spirit 